Everyone concerned with The Northern Farmer have been celebrating its third anniversary, including news editor Mike Bridgen (pictured) and freelance contributors Neil Ryder, Jennifer MacKenzie, Wendy Short and Bruce Jobson, all Members of the Guild.
The weekly, which is published by Newsquest Media Group, was launched in October 2010 to reflect the issues faced by farmers in the north of England, specifically in the counties of Durham, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire.
“That first issue of 24 pages set out to provide a digest of the month’s farming news and a focus on the key sectors, plus comment from leading figures in the northern farming industry,” says editor Malcolm Warne. “The 36 issues that followed continued that mission and the magazine has steadily grown.”
Produced by the team responsible for the Darlington & Stockton Times weekly newspaper – long respected for its coverage of rural issues and farming in particular – The Northern Farmer took on the look of The Scottish Farmer, also published by Newsquest Media Group, and itself became the template for other Newsquest regional publications – The Wales Farmer, The Southern Farmer and Three Counties Farmer, which is published in association with the Three Counties Agricultural Society and covers Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Earlier this year, The Northern Farmer was Highly Commended in the O2 Yorkshire & Humber Media Awards.
Peter Hill
